Question to more senior Mac users: how do you usually decide when to upgrade?
I bought my first Macbook pro about a year and a half ago and it's still working great.
I bought my first Macbook pro about a year and a half ago and it's still working great.
Got the money, are in the consumerism camp: Switch to latest model every year because the camera island changed 5mm.
Got the professional need in games or video and your work isn't covering your device: Switch to new model every couple of generations.
Be me: I want to extend the lifecycle of things I use. Learn how to repair what you own (it's never been as easy), be aware of how you can work in today's world (who needs laptop RAM if I can spin up containers in the cloud) - I expect to not upgrade until a similarly stellar step up in the category of Intel to Apple Silicone comes along.
All past Mx versions being mostly compared to Intel baselines: Boring. M4 1.8 times faster than M1 Pro: Nice, but no QoL change. For the few times I might need it, I can spin up a container in the cloud.
My display is excellent.
14 inch is the perfect screen size.
Battery life is perfect.
Multiply it out: 220 work days a year * $10/day is $2200 a year towards your laptop.
Upgrade accordingly.
Sounds like a good rule of thumb.
Can I also ask what kind of work you do on it? I suspect that some work probably wears out computers faster than other sorts of work.
- new display tech
- better wireless connectivity
- updated protocols on ports (e.g., support for higher res displays and newer displayport/hdmi versions)
- better keyboard
- battery life
Once a few of those changes accumulate over 4+ generations of improvements that’s usually the time for me to upgrade.
My laptops so far: first 2008 plastic macbook, 2012 macbook pro, 2015 macbook pro, and M1 pro 16 currently. I skipped 2016-2020 generation which was a massive step backwards on my upgrade criteria, and updated to 2015 model in 2016 once I realized apple has lost their marbles and has no near plans on making a usable laptop at the time.
Also getting a maxed out configuration really helps the longevity.
Is there some reason your current computer isn't working for you? If not, why upgrade? Use it as long as you can do so practically & easily.
On the other extreme, I knew someone who bought a new MBP with maximum RAM specs each year. She'd sell the old one for a few hundred less than she paid, then she always had new hardware with applecare. It was basically like leasing a machine for $400/yr.
Because it made the esc key useless for touch typists and because, as a vi user, I hit esc approximately a bazillion times per day I mapped caps lock to esc.
Now my fingers don't travel as far to hit esc.
I still use that mapping even on my regular keyboards and my current non-touch-bar macs.
Thanks touchbar macs, rest in peace.
I really like the touchbar Macs because changing the volume to exactly what I want is really easy. All the others have increments that are too large, so I have to try to remember if Shift + Opt + Volume Up/Down is what I want, or some other combination.
can't justify the constant upgrade when it doesn't make me money (work provide one). very excited about the new one though
But there is also another strategy: get a new Mac when they come out and sell it before/after the next model appears. There is a large market for used Macs. A friend of mine has been doing this for quite some time.